You know you've made it when...

I read fark.com every day. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Fark is a website that assembles strange stories from all over. Many are downright bizarre, and the funniest part of it is the snarky headlines that link to the stories.

Like this one:

Ex-wife + girlfriend + alcohol + gun in the house. Want to guess the ending? Give it a shot (sun-sentinel.com)

A day without Fark is like a day without, well, without something I really need. My wife knows when I'm reading Fark because I usually laugh like a fool. Well, this morning, I saw a story that made me laugh, but it was more the "sickly" kind of laugh:

California to ban state trinkets. Your move Arizona (money.cnn.com)

I guess our business (or, at least, part of our business) has Made It. We've become a punchline on Fark. Governor Moonbeam (D-ranged) has determined that the path to financial sanity for California is paved with the discarded carcasses of promotional products.

And look at the savings! The CNN story says that almost $7 million was spent between 2007 and 2010 on these "trinkets"! That during a period when CA's budget deficits were exploding, with the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst predicting a $25 BILLION deficit this year alone.

$7 million? This is the textbook definition of "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic".

I guess you gotta start somewhere, but when you start with a number this insignificant it sorta renders the entire process something of a joke, or at least a Witch Hunt. I'd love to find out how many pamphlets CA printed over those past three years that are in landfills somewhere. Or how many extra forms they printed they didn't use, or God knows what other "wasteful" uses of the taxpayer's dime.

PPAI is mobilizing, as are CA's two major Regional Associations, against this decision. They can speak with some authority, as they mention the numbers of Californians who derive their living from selling promotional products. They may even make some inroads.

But the trend is disturbing for our business--again, we're being seen as a "cost" instead of an "investment". The CNN story mentions that some of the promotional products were urging conservancy--as if it were a contradiction in terms.

We're going back to the "demonizing" of our livelihoods--like what happened when the President declared that all employee/customer events were Evil, and Las Vegas was the Mordor of corporate spending. The incentive travel business is STILL trying to recover from it.

It's sad. I don't go to Fark to hear about my business. I go there to see these gems:

(NBC DFW)

Remember those awesome Naked Scanners the TSA just had to have? An undercover agent was able to sneak a gun through the one at DFW every single time she tried. If only there were some sort of device that could detect metal items (nbcdfw.com)

Pete

The Rep/Supplier Relationship

In about 2 months the Incentive Manufacturers and Representatives Alliance (IMRA) wlll convene for its annual Marketing Conference. This year we're meeting in Nashville, and it's appropriate that we are there, the home of lyrics like "all my exes wear Rolexes" and "she got the gold mine, I got the shaft".

I've been doing some thinking about the rep/supplier relationship and there are some parallels between it and a good country song. Or, at least, SOME country songs. To wit:

• There's the "you did me wrong" song--reps are perceiving that suppliers are changing the rules, placing "unfunded mandates" of customer service onto the reps;
• And the "I'll be OK without you" song--suppliers are diverging their paths on how to approach the market--some chasing end users more aggressively, others hiring new types of reps (retail, promotional product multi-line) to get to the business;
• We can't forget the "I've got somebody new" song--as new entities (like large 2-step electronics distributors) enter our business, they provide a different model for reps--they may no longer need those "exclusive" arrangements in certain categories;
• And finally, we must pay homage to "I remember how it used to be" songs--as reps and suppliers come to grips with a changing landscape and how it impacts their future, we pine for a simpler time when it was lemonade and swimming holes, First Kisses and the Fourth of July.

I'm guessing there will be some sad songs sung in Nashville--the recent optimism is still perched on the shaky ground of whatever this "recovery" may be. And I also think we'll hear lots of steel guitars twanging about the future of the market. But I find my favorite country songs to be those that combine humor with the pathos, like my hero, Hank Williams Jr., who once opined:

"They called the cops to take me in
and I said 'you're never gonna do it, friends'
and they just smiled and said 'oh yes we will'
now a stick to the head and some kicks to the shins
and several bites by Rin Tin Tin
and I couldn't wait to get into that jail"...

Now THAT's an Attitude Adjustment...


Pete

60 Days...

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

It's actually a good thing-the past 60 days have been full of activity, and most of it was actually the good kind. Let's recap, shall we?

• We survived 2010, and we have it exactly where we want it--in the rearview mirror.
• 2011 has begun with a bang. Attendance at PPAI and ASI Orlando was up and the mood was very positive
• Quoting activity started escalating in December, and we actually closed some programs (and this is a VERY positive thing)
• No suppliers exited the channel, and no new threats appeared (that we're aware of-it's always the Unseen Threat that causes the most damage)

So, we're off. There are still structural challenges, and I see no reliable evidence that funding for corporate reward, recognition, or incentive programs has increased in any material way. The major clients in the market are seeing increases to their toplines, but it's coming from lower-margin products (iPads, anyone?) and that isn't a good thing.

I'm relatively bullish--actually, very much more bullish than I was a year ago. That doesn't mean 2008 has returned--far from it--but I see a more bluish tint to the sky these days. I can't cross my toes, but the fingers are very much in that position...


Pete